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Catholic Bishops in Cameroon Caution against Fear to Send Children to School

Archbishop Andrew Fuanya Nkea (left) and Bishop George Nkuo (right). Credit: Bamenda Archdiocese/Kumbo Diocese

By Jude Atemanke

Bamenda, 30 August, 2023 / 11:29 am (ACI Africa).

Catholic Bishops in Cameroon’s Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province (BAPEC) have, in separate messages, cautioned parents against fear to send their children to school despite the protracted crisis in their region.

Cameroon’s English-speaking regions that cover BAPEC plunged into conflict in 2016 after a protest by lawyers and teachers turned violent. An armed movement of separatists claiming independence for the so-called republic of Ambazonia emerged following the government’s crackdown on protesters. 

School boycotts have become common in these areas, as have enforced moratoriums on public life known as "ghost towns".

In a statement issued Monday, August 28, the Local Ordinary of Kumbo Diocese invites authorities to create opportunities for school resumption scheduled for September 4 nationwide.

“Parents, do not be afraid to send your children back to school,” Bishop George Nkuo says in his message.

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Bishop Nkuo adds, “As we prepare for the reopening of schools for the 2023/2024 academic year, it is very important to thank God that school preparations have started.”

“But it will be interesting to see that many more children, many more opportunities are given for our children to go back to school,” he says.

The Cameroonian Catholic Bishop who has been at the helm of Kumbo Diocese since his Episcopal Consecration in September 2006 appeals to the warring parties in the Anglophone crisis to let children go to school.

“Let them give the children opportunities, make it possible, create room, do not block them going back to school. School doors should be open so that wherever the children are, they can find the opportunity to go to school,” the 70-year-old Catholic Bishop says.

On his part, Archbishop Andrew Fuanya Nkea of Bamenda Archdiocese says, “All the Children must go to school.”

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“I have said this in season and out of season, accepted or unaccepted, persecuted or praised, children must go to school,” Bishop Nkea, who is the President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) says in his August 26 message.

He adds, “School is the only way to guarantee the future of our kids, school is the only way to guarantee the future of our nation, school is the only way to guarantee the goodness and the wellbeing of families so school has to go on.”

The Cameroonian Catholic Archbishop encourages parents to “do everything possible, leave no child behind; no matter the nugs and crannies of this Archdiocese, leave no child behind. Come September 2023, all children should go to school.”

Jude Atemanke

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.

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